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A NEW Bio-Bucket grow... 12-site/1KW

C

Casual

Lol... yep Angel... I'm planning on flushing the last couple of weeks. I'm not going to use any of the late stage additives. Will definitely use Cal-Mag since I'm using RO water, and am thinking about Floralicious and maybe Superthrive. I want to keep things pretty simple to start with.

Caz
 
C

Casual

Update...

Spiked my rez today for the first time since start up. EC before was 1.4, pH 6.4
I added 150ml Micro, 300ml Bloom and 23ml pH down...
Current readings are 1.9EC, pH 5.9.
I'm considering adding a bit more pH down to get down to 5.5-5.6 but will let things run a day or so before changing anything else... I don't want to chase my tail. Most of the girls are looking very happy. The AH3's are perking up a bit now as well. The one 2nd from the back on the left has the smallest roots of them all, but the roots are going, so I think she's just going to be a runt.
Any opinions regarding dropping the lamp down? I've left it about 5' over the plants so I didn't shock the shit out of them, but it's been 9 days now.

Caz
 

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petemoss

petemoss

Active member
Looks good, Caz! The whole grow room looks so clean and tidy! Don't worry about the Ph. 5.9 is fine. You increased EC from 1.4 to 1.9 and the Ph dropped .5 points to 5.9. That's a huge change already, so I think you were judicious to eschew any further Ph Down. Don't forget, the Ph scale is logarithmic so 5.0 is ten times more acidic than 6.0! Also, you are topping the res with RO water at 7.0 Ph, so you won't get as dramatic Ph dip as someone who is topping with water pre-Phed at 6.0 if that makes any sense.

I think your AH clone may just be stalled for a while. Sometimes a young clone will react poorly to transplant shock, heat or light stress and grow slowly for a week or so. In time, the AH will probably catch up to the WW's, which I believe are known to be very fast starters. And by all means, lower the lights to keep the clones from stretching out too much. New plants can't take a sudden boost in lighting but that's only for the first day or two. With full strength nutes, they are ready for stronger lighting. You'll be surprised how quickly they take off when you provide them with a stable, stress-free environment.
 
C

Casual

Alrighty. Lowered the light down to about 24" above the plants. I could go a little lower, but I don't want to risk burning anything.
What do you think about temp swings? I'm thinking I will put a timer on the Evap Cooler that will shut it off a couple minutes after the lights go out. Right now, the cooler runs 24/7, and it's in the high 60's in the room when the lights come back on. Then during the day, it get's up into the lower 80's. Just wondering what you think.

Thanks!

Caz
 
petemoss

petemoss

Active member
A timer would be a good idea. I've always heard that you can minimize the spacing between nodes by keeping daytime temps as close as possible to nighttime temps. Doesn't your cooler have a thermostat? A good and cheap alternative is a "line voltage thermostat". I have one made by Chicago (only $20) that can be used to turn on a AC (or fan) above a certain set temp. It will also turn on a heater if temps drop below a set temp. Another possibility is to run your lights at night when it's cooler.
 
C

Casual

Here are the latest pics... they're really cruising now it seems!! Leaves look a bit yellow, but they all seem healthy. Even the Haze's are starting to really take off. I believe I should have let the clones root longer before putting them in the buckets... lesson learned!!

Caz
 

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dachieftan

dachieftan

Active member
man that set-up looks so professional and legit! From the looks of it you will definitely have a good harvest... how much do you predict to yield per bucket?
 
C

Casual

Thanks Chieftain! I'm learning this time around, I'll be happy with 5oz's a plant this time around... hoping to eventually be pulling 8oz's a plant once I get everything dialed in. This seems doable. My biggest problem now is lighting... I think i might be able to do that with two 1K's the next time around.

Caz
 
C

Casual

Ok, the 'flip' day is finally here.
I'm shortening their day up today... lights will be going off at 6pm. About 15 minutes later, after the lamp has cooled down, I'll swap bulbs and flip the ballast over to HPS.
I bumped the nutes today and brought them up to EC 1.96
Did some last minute pruning. Amazing how bushy the WW's are!

I've noticed, Only on the Hazes, the lower fan leaves are yellowed/mottled, but the bud branches that are right next to them look beautiful. Anyone have any idea about this? The Mom has the same issue...
I've included pics of the room, right before I flip over the lamp, and a couple of pics of the oddball Haze leaves...

Any info is much appreciated!

Caz
 

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C

Casual

Looking at those pics really illustrates why I'd have been better spending a little more money on a second 1000W light setup instead of buying the light mover. I didn't realize at the time how dramatic a difference it would be. When the lights at one end, it's pretty damn dark at the other. Also, I've noticed the plants on both ends have grown their leaves to face the center, while the center plants are looking straight up.
Next go around, definitely going to add a 2nd 1KW setup and give the girls all the light I can afford!

Caz
 
angel4us

angel4us

Active member
ICMag Donor
sq. footage???

sq. footage???

hi casual!!! what is the footage of your area you are covering ? can your mover take more lights like a couple 150 hps security lights on each end ?? the little bastards kick butt , i see hydro farm has remote ballast /hood/150 hps system- 89 bucks and they do well for vegging/ getting bb bucket clones feet wet before they blast .
grow on casual:tiphat:
 
C

Casual

Hi Angel. The area is essentially 4x8, closer to 4x7.

I think as I raise the hood, coverage will be better, but for now, what I have will have to do. I'm about as broke as I can be at the moment! I've really put EVERYTHING I've got into this grow. After this harvest, I'll reinvest in another 1KW setup, and am planning on adding another system. I've got another room cleared out and will have a bit more room next time around. I think the area I'm in will be a real bitch to move around and trim things up in a few weeks. They're growing pretty rapidly now!

Caz
 
S

stagehand099

Member
I wouldn't worry about lowest leaves looking bad. Clones are stressed after they root a lot of times. Also, the light may been too much for them at first and they got some burnage. The new growth always tells the story of plant health and yours look very good.

One thing; I would put some sort of supplimental lighting on each end or those girls might start throwing some nanners out if the strain is at all predisposed to hermie. Happened to me with a long run on a mover and it wasn't pretty when I harvested seeded buds. Just a good sized (42 watt?) CFL hanging bare bulb would prolly do it.

I'm a dirt farmer but I've wanted to try a hydro grow or two for ever. I'm very impressed with your setup. I didn't catch whether this is your first hydro grow, but if so, you surely jumped in the deep end, huh?

Did you consider just buying an Undercurrent system? I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on a 6 bucket jobby and playing around with it for awhile. If its too much trouble, I'll craigslist the shit and go back to organic soil grows.

Anyway, great show so far! I'll be lurking for this one.

stagehand
 
C

Casual

Thanks Stagehand... Yes, this is my first grow, of anything, ever.
I've been on the forums every day for about 7 months now, learning everything
I can.
I could rig up some kind of CFL deal. I have an extra homemade fixture from my original mommy cabinet... it's a piece of plywood with a 3 light bathroom fixture on it. Each of those sockets has a double socket adapter screwed into it, so it has 6 CFL's on it. Each CFL is supposed to be a 100w equivalent. They put out plenty of light for the two moms, and should be sufficient to supplement the 1KW in there now. I'll hang one at each end, and setup another one in the mom tent (I made two of them).

When I set out on the Bio-Bucket path, I'd never seen or heard of the UC or MPB system. Now that I have, I've fallen in love with the UC setup. Very cheap to DIY.
I'm not sure I have the capacity to run more than maybe 3 1KW lights where I'm at.
My electric bills are already through the roof. I think if you try out a UC, you'll wonder why you played in dirt so long. It's a similar process to the Biobuckets, but moves a LOT more water, reduced plumbing, etc. Daily maintenance takes minutes, literally.

Best of luck in whatever path you choose!

Caz
 
S

stagehand099

Member
Hey, one more thing, Caz. Did you find a U.S. seller for that 6 in 1 meter you're using? I saw a bunch on Ebay, but they're all China sellers. Thanks.

stagehand
 
C

Casual

Hi Stagehand... yep, I picked it up off of Ebay, but it came from somewhere here in the states. It's been a few months now, I don't have the info any longer.
Here's one on Ebay that's coming out of New York. Item # 230409528836
Here's another out of CA... Item # 180514612513

Their generic name is a Tri Meter, at least that's what I always search for when I'm looking. ;)

I believe the ones that are a bit more ($199) are a generally nicer meter, but the one I have seems to be rock solid.

Caz
 
C

Casual

OK folks... here are the latest pics.
I'm on Day 7 of Flower. Several are Monsters, taking anything I throw at them. A few runts, but at least they're growing.
Next time, I'll take several more clones that I need and use the 12 strongest... should avoid this issue.

Caz
 

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Y

Yukon Cornelius

Member
Pullin up a papison for this show. I am happy to see a NEW bio-bucket thread, as I think I have memorized Big Toke's threads already! Good work so far, keep it up Caz!
 
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